This invention concerns plastic nuts, more particularly plastic nuts having a polygonal tool engagement region with a plurality of lateral faces for engagement with drive elements of a tool socket. The lateral faces may form an equilateral right prism, for example, with adjacent lateral faces meeting at longitudinal edges and forming corners. Nuts of this type may have hexagonal, octagonal, or square tool engagement regions, for example, with a central longitudinal bore for accommodating a stud. The bore may pass entirely through the nut or may be closed at one end in a nut known as a cap nut. Nuts of the prior art are disclosed, for example, in DE 693 00 210 D2 and DE 100 48 975 C1.
In the automotive industry, for example, nuts of the foregoing type are frequently screwed onto studs with motor-driven fastening tools equipped with a socket wrench, also called a driver, using a socket with a cavity matching the tool engagement region of the nut. Nuts with hexagonal tool engagement regions, and sockets with hexagonal or twelve-cornered inner surfaces are customary. It is desired that the nuts be easily inserted into the sockets, be held in the sockets frictionally without falling out, and be released from the sockets easily when desired.